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  Banderembako, Judith

  Judith Banderembako

  Before the 1972 Genocide of Burundi, Banderembako said her community was filled with neighbors who were always willing to share and help one another. Their peaceful and welcoming way of life was shattered when a soldier arrived with a list of names of people who were to be collected and killed. Banderembako explained that people were snatched from their homes, forced to dig their graves, and then their bodies were tossed into the ground. If the victims refused to dig, the perpetrators would tie their limbs together and throw their bodies into a river. After their death, the victim’s homes were looted, and all their possessions were taken and divided among the perpetrators. She explained that she would appreciate a memorial but remains doubtful that this structure would help Burundians’ heel. Banderembako said she is concerned that the history of the genocide will negatively influence the youth, and she fears their hearts will become tainted with a lack of desire to reconcile. She lost her father, husband, and brother-in-law during this violent attack. However, Banderembako explained that as a Catholic, she must forgive.

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  Banka, Jean

  Jean Banka

  Banka shared that his older brothers were murdered during the 1972 Genocide of Burundi. Banka explained that the militia violently took his brothers from their homes, smashed all their windows, and stole their property. Banka remained in hiding after the perpetrators killed his brothers for fear he would be next on the list to die. When he emerged from hiding, he found out that many other men from their community were also killed. To make this loss even more devastating, Banka was then forced to live among the killers who murdered his family members. He knew the perpetrators who claimed their lives walked freely among them. Banka was not allowed to mourn or inquire about his dead relatives, as this behavior was punishable by death.

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  Banyasekera, Philippe

  Philippe Banyasekera

  Philippe and his 3 other siblings did not attend school, as it was rare to go being Hutu without experiencing harm or death. His father was the first relative closest to Philippe who was captured by the armed forces in Burundi. Philippe’s father was a woodmaker and did construction work for a living. One day on the job, his father and uncle were approached by a man they once had acquaintances with, they even helped construct parts of his home. The man, who goes by the name Bimpenda, tells Philippe’s father that he and his brother are wanted at his office for a discussion, where they assumed he had a job opportunity assorted for them. They arrived and were arrested, packed on military trucks, and taken away. A communal administrator named Nzogera, brought a group along with him and looted Philippe’s whole home, taking 24 of his family's goats. The men responsible for this claimed that they were taking traitors' belongings and how no one deserves them, to justify their actions. That same week, they forced Philippe and his family out of their homes, causing them to move in with their grandfather, on his father’s side. Days later came, where the interior minister ordered them to go back to their homes, but at that point, everything they ever owned was stolen, causing them to go back to nothing but an empty home.

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  Barakirura, Salathiel

  Salathiel Barakirura

  During the 1972 Genocide of Burundi, Barakirura said militia invited all male members of the community to attend a peace meeting held under the guise of ceasing violence between the Hutu and Tutsi. When the men entered the meeting grounds, soldiers invaded the area and slaughtered everyone to death. After the horrific ambush, Barakirura fled to Tanzania while the perpetrators stole his home and his land. Barakirura returned to Burundi in 2008 and has fought to regain his property for almost two decades. He said he is not concerned about discussing who is Hutu and who is Tutsi. He wants Burundians to come together as one and end the ethnic divide.

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  Barantndikiye, Mathias

  Mathias Barantndikiye

  Mathias Barantndikiye said he remembers a group of soldiers circling him and his fellow parishioners after he was walking home from Sunday mass. The soldiers forced them into a where a commander demanded everyone there take out documentation to prove they had all paid their taxes. However, Barantndikiye explained that no one traveled with their paperwork because it was Sunday, a day of rest. He said the militia began to release the men in large quantities. As they were released, Barantndikiye said he saw tractors digging large holes in their community. At first, he thought the digging might be a type of military exercise, only to discover later they were digging mass graves to bury those massacred in the 1972 Genocide of Burundi.

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  Barutwanayo, Vincent

  Vincent Barutwanayo

  Vincent Barutwanayo said soldiers captured his father and four uncles, tied them up with cords, and proceeded to slice them to death with machetes right before his eyes. When Barutwanayo tried to escape the violence, he said soldiers spared his life, but not before holding him down in the street so he could watch his father die. After the attack, Barutwanayo said his suffering only continued to grow. The mothers in the communities were left without fathers and providers for their children. As a result of their deaths, he said homes began to collapse around him. Now, more than 50 years after this gruesome attack, Barutwanayo said the people who ordered his family be murdered are still alive and currently live in the same community with him.

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  Bizmana, Thierry

  Thierry Bizmana

  Thierry Bizmana said on April 22, 1972, the militia killed his father and his uncle because they were respected business owners in their community. After the 1972 tragedies, Bizmana explained that living conditions had worsened. He spent several years fleeing the providences of Gitega, Uganda, and Bujumbura. The perpetrators that killed Bizmana’s family ceased their vehicles, homes, and land. For the past 50 years, Bizmana said the people who killed his family are the same people who are part of Burundi’s current ruling power. He said he hopes that the Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC) continues to do everything in its power to make this mass atrocity public. Bizmana said before the TRC stepped in to help, Burundians were not even allowed to walk or drive near mass graves. He said he knows people want to dismantle the TRC so they can continue to keep their stolen property.

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  Bukuru, Sabina

  Sabina Bukuru

  Sabina attended Notre Dame School but stopped her studies after the fifth grade to help with work at home. She completed her confirmation in 1959 at St. Michael's Catholic Church. Sabina was raised by her aunt after her parents died. She was born in Rweza but did not grow up there. She had two brothers; one was killed during the 1993 crisis, and the other went to Congo and never returned back to Burundi.

  During the tragedies of 1972, Sabina lost her husband, Commander Zacharie Harerimana. Harerimana was a soldier and abroad in Belgium for a work mission. Upon returning to Burundi on April 3, 1972, he was warned by a friend that he would die if he returned. Despite this, he insisted on returning home. On the same day he arrived home, he went directly to give the mission report at work although his friends kept warning him of impending death. He never came back.. Sabina was forced out of their government-provided home in INSS quarter, Avenue Bururi No 45, by officers. They were left homeless, and her husband was later reported dead and Sabina and her children were eventually sent to her father-in-law's house.

  Shortly after the incident, Sabina’s children were separated from her, and she did not know their whereabouts.

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  Buzirigi, Isaie

  Isaie Buzirigi

  Oral history of Isaie Buzirigi.

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  Bwasoni, Rejina

  Rejina Bwasoni

  In the interview, Rejina recounts seeing soldiers arriving in a Jeep at her school. The soldiers took away several teachers and other individuals, including her uncle, Mark Buhinja, who was an agronomist. The interviewee saw the abductions occur and mentioned that the teachers and her uncle were placed into vehicles. After the abductions, Rejina went home and found her family in complete distress. These abductions had deeply affected the community, with her uncle's wife and her mother expressing extreme grief, as anyone who loses a family member tragically would. Unfortunately, the speaker later learned that those taken, including her uncle, were killed. There were also rumors that spread and confirmed reports about the killings, including those who were tied up and transported.

  This resulted in Rejina and her family facing severe emotional distress. She was forced to drop out of school due to the upheaval and the loss of her father, who was also killed. The interviewee's father had been a soldier and was involved in burying bodies before his death.

  She also recounts how the local community and the school treated her and her siblings, by insulting them and facing discrimination. The family's suffering was compounded by the broader political violence and social upheaval of the time.

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  de Dieu Rwasa, Jean

  Jean de Dieu Rwasa

  Jean's father was taken away by authorities when he was just 12 years old. While his father was on his way to do business, in regards to his job as a shop merchant, he was later captured and never seen again. His fathers disappearance resulted in Rwasa having to drop out of school in Kibonde. Like any child would, Rwasa religiously asked the people of his community about his fathers whereabouts, After a month of uncertainty, he was told that his father had disappeared like others who were taken away. It was later revealed to the interviewee that his father had been taken where the “traitors” are placed to be exiled. He and his family fled to Rwanda during a period of unrest. They returned later but did not settle back in Rusarasi due to fears of similar repercussions. Rwasa’s father was a businessman, but after his disappearance, his family did not obtain any belongings left behind from his store in Bunyari. The store had been looted after his capture. The interviewee's life took a different route after his father was captured. He lived among priests for a period, then engaged in selling goats and later pigs until he could afford to build a house.

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  Evariste, Bivugire

  Bivugire Evariste

  Bivugire Evariste was born in the village of Rurira, Busoni commune in Kirundo province with his 3 other siblings. His father and several accused Hutus from Gitobe and Bwambarang were falsely labeled as “criminals'' engaged in political affairs. They were all placed on packed trucks on their way to imprisonment, which resulted in being killed for many. Because of Bivugire’s father being arrested, he and his siblings were bullied and labeled as a “traitor”. The day his father was put into custody, was the last day he ever saw him again. His father was killed, and two days later, Bivugire’s home was raided and robbed. For years, he and his family were labeled as those who wanted to overthrow the country and its leaders. This resulted in him and his family growing up in fear, grief, and trauma.

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  Gahutu, Jumayine

  Jumayine Gahutu

  In 1972, Jumayine Gahutu said he heard reports on the radio about the violent attacks happening in Bujumbura. According to Gahutu, people began to speculate that it was only a matter of time until the mascaras made their way through Muyinga. Gahutu said the military would grab male Hutus out of their homes, tie their hands behind their back, and throw them onto a truck. He explained that the victims were then taken to prison to be killed, and their corpses were tossed into a river or dumped into a mass grave. After the bodies were disposed of, Gahutu said the militia would come back to cease all property and vehicles. When violence erupted again in 1993, Gahutu fled to Tanzania for refuge.

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  Hajayandi, Andre

  Andre Hajayandi

  Hajayandi watched in horror as perpetrators invaded his community, setting everything in their path ablaze. He said he will never forget seeing his beloved church rapidly engulfed in flames. Many of Hajayandi’s neighbors lost their homes and businesses during this militia invasion of 1972. Hajayandi, however, lost his brother, cousin and uncle. Hajayandi wants Burundians to return to helping each other instead and come together for the country's greater good. He explained that if there were a memorial built for all victims of the 1972 Genocide of Burundi, it could rejoin the Hutus and Tutsis and become one: Burundians.

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  Hanyurwimfura, Dehogarasiyasi

  Dehogarasiyasi Hanyurwimfura

  Dehogarasiyasi describes the violence beginning on April 29, 1972, firstly sparked by allegations of a rebellion led by Mulele. This rebellion was falsely reported to have started in Rumonge and later spread to more communities. The crisis involved systematic attacks on individuals recognized to be Hutu, including teachers and civil service employees. Those accused were taken away, and their properties were looted..

  Teachers and other Hutu individuals were targeted and arrested. The interviewee's younger brother was a teacher in Murore, Ngozi, and was killed during the crisis. Him and other educators were taken simultaneously. Their whereabouts were unknown, and it was later inferred that they were killed. Dehogarasiyasi recalls how the properties of those arrested were seized and how people’s homes were raided. This included personal belongings, livestock, and land.

  He and his family eventually fled to Rwanda in 1973 due to fears of further violence, only to return later to find that the crisis had continued.

  Dehogarasiyasi’s brother who had not yet married and was in the process of building a house, was among those taken. His belongings were confiscated, and the house was eventually occupied by others.

  Before the crisis, there was a peaceful coexistence between Hutu and Tutsi communities. However, the crisis created divisions, and Hutu individuals were labeled as "rebels" and targeted. The social fabric was severely disrupted as trust was eroded and violence became rampant.

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  Hatunga, Remejiyo

  Remejiyo Hatunga

  Remejiyo recalls a traumatic situation from his childhood when his father was forcefully taken away by authorities while he was working in his home as a carpenter. The police arrived to ask him to come to the commune for questioning. Despite some initial hesitation, he agreed to go. The interviewee vividly remembers the details: the police in khaki clothes similar to shoes and a specific type of hat, the location (Murore), and the events leading up to his father's arrest. After his father was taken away, Remejiyo's family heard that he was loaded onto a dump truck with others and taken away. This was the last time they ever saw their father again.

  Following their father's arrest, the family faced additional hardships. Their home was later looted by thieves, taking a new bicycle and 18 goats. Having witnessed these events, the interviewee explains how it caused him to feel powerless and afraid to speak out due to fear of the authorities returning for them, just as they had taken his father.

  Remejiyo also mentions the emotional impact on his family, especially his mother who struggled to take care of them, without their fathers support. After this incident with his father being captured, Remejiyo would hear cruel comments from others speculating about his father's fate and mocking his hope that he might return.

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  Hatungimana, Marceline

  Marceline Hatungimana

  When Marcelin Hatungimana was 8 years old, she received news that the militia had killed her two older brothers. As she struggled to process the death of her siblings, she then found out that teachers were being taken out of schools and slaughtered. As the violence grew, Hatungimana’s liberties dwindled. Her mother, father, and brothers were all killed during the 1972 Genocide of Burundi. She had no choice but to leave school and focus on surviving. She would go for long walks to identify plants she could pick and sell to support herself. Hatungimana physically survived the 1972 Genocide of Burundi, but she never returned to pursuing her education.

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  Hicuburundi, Athanase

  Athanase Hicuburundi

  Hicuburundi lost his brother in 1972. On April 29 a meeting was organized at Rumonge and the leaders urged everyone’s attendance. At that time anyone who didn’t go could be jailed. Hicuburundi was a teacher at Minago but he didn’t go. Some people came running and told him that a small group of armed men with machetes, called mulele attacked the meeting. The killings continued on Monday. When they returned to school, he was told that his headmaster had been killed. People became scared, most of them fled to the priest's compound but the soldiers arrested people later. They took them to the market of Minago to dump them into the pit dug by construction machines. In that period they mostly arrested teachers and salesmen. Soldiers came to arrest Hicuburundi but they didn't find him, and he decided to run away to Congo. They killed his small brother Simbananiye and his nephew Ntangibingura. The head of village Ntagumuka is among the perpetrators who killed many people. All the people who owned lands were killed by him. He then plundered those lands. Hicuburundi’s brothers didn't continue to study they dropped out of school. The communal administrator called Nyambere is one of the perpetrators who persecuted many people.

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  Icobaragiye Ramadhan, Saleh

  Saleh Icobaragiye Ramadhan

  During the 1972 Genocide of Burundi, Icobaragiye said he was almost murdered during a militia roadblock. He attributes being alive today to football. Icobaragiye explained the governor immediately recognized him as a champion footballer and spared his life. However, other male Hutus, including Icobaragiye’s father, were less fortunate. They did not survive the roadblock. Some Hutus were killed on the spot, while he said others were tied and tossed into a nearby river to drown to death. After Icobaragiye narrowly escaped death, he hid in his home for 3 months. He said he told as many people to flee as possible before migrating to a refugee camp.

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  Kandava, Riberata

  Riberata Kandava

  Riberata Kandava shares how she studied till the first grade and after one year, studied at catechetical school. However, she stopped attending school, because her mother viewed it as a risk, after her father was captured. Riberata narrates how armed individuals came to her home, arrested her father who was a merchant, and subsequently killed him. The perpetrators looted her family's belongings, taking away a bicycle and a radio, and later returned to take whatever remained in the house. The family was left in appalling circumstances, constantly harassed by local authorities who accused them of being traitors. The term "traitor" was unclear to the speaker as a child, but it was used as a derogatory term against those who were targeted. The interviewee also mentions an alarming practice where some perpetrators would return to marry the widows of the victims they had killed. The speaker's mother, a young and attractive widow, became a target of such advances, which intensified their hardships. The family lived in fear and poverty, struggling to survive amid ongoing harassment, as well as threats from local authorities.

  Overall, the interview paints a vivid picture of the brutal consequences of political violence and how it profoundly affected the lives of innocent civilians in Kandava during that period.

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  Macumi, Béatrice

  Béatrice Macumi

  Béatrice recounts the tragic times of 1972, where there was a massacre. She mentions incidents where people were arrested and killed, due to accusations of witchcraft or other reasons. She mentions that in 1972, some people disappeared, possibly taken away to work and never returned, presumed dead.

  Béatrice denies knowing about traitors or any specific details of the killings, indicating a lack of clear information or memory due to the passage of time. She mentions losing her husband, who was a soldier and taken away, and also losing a child during that period. She also recalls being called to live in a camp with her husband temporarily, and later returning home where her husband was again taken away and ultimately killed.

  The interview provides the interviewee's fragmented memories and the traumatic events she experienced during the 1972 massacre, highlighting the uncertainty and loss that affected her and her family.

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  Manirambona, Rehokadiya

  Rehokadiya Manirambona

  In Rehokadiya’s testimony, she explains how in 1972 people were taken away without clear reasons, often labeled as "dissidents" by those in power. She mentions how this time period was marked by confusion and a lack of understanding about the true nature of the violence. The interviewee was a student at Murehe elementary school during the genocide era. She witnessed classmates and teachers being taken away by soldiers and never seeing them again. The local population were given a warning by an Italian priest about the danger and encouraged to flee if possible.

  Rehokadiya lost two family members (cousins) during this tragedy, one was a demobilized soldier working in the governor's office who disappeared and was later confirmed dead. Another was a teacher who attempted to hide but was eventually captured and killed. She narrates how Mourning and traditional funeral rituals at the time were prohibited. Expressing grief would result in being accused of sympathizing with the victims, and could easily lead to further persecution.

  These arrests were carried out by compiled lists made by government authorities and passed down to local officials who carried out the arrests and executions. The interviewee describes mass graves in Vumbi municipality, where victims from various regions were brought to be killed. The graves were located in a large cave used for hiding and disposing of bodies. Rehokadiya heard about the massacre from a former perpetrator who described the brutal methods and locations where bodies were disposed of. This person, named Magarama, recounted the details of the killings and the state of the mass graves.

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  Mateso, Alexis

  Alexis Mateso

  Mateso’s father was ambushed and killed in Bujumubura. He was traveling to pick up his monthly paycheck and never returned home. Instead of seeing his father’s safe return, Mateso was greeted by his dad’s best friend, who held his father’s jacket. At that moment, Mateso said he knew his father was gone. Before this tragedy struck, Mateso said he had fond memories of his father gently waking him up before he left for work each morning and warmly greeting him in the evenings. Mateso hopes Burundians can come together to address their past and positively change things for a better future. Mateso said God has helped him have a forgiving spirit, and he is ready to live in harmony.

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  Mazina, Makariyo

  Makariyo Mazina

  When Makariyo Mazina was just 14-years old, he explained that Hutu militia abused, tortured and killed his father. His father was a successful business man that was taken off of is bicycle, tied up, tortured and was murdered. Mazina says after the militia took his father away, they came after him. One solider took Mazina to a banana plantation, knocked him down tied his hands behind his back, and then dragged his body to a nearby car. Mazina was dumped into a car with others who were also moaning and screaming in pain. Then Mazina said he was thrown out of the moving car, rolled down the road, and landed in a thorn bush.

  Mazina and his family were never able to ask why their father was killed, nor were they ever able to persecute the perpetrators. When his father passed away- they took all of his father’s belongings and he and his siblings were forced to flee to Rwanda.

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  Mbonibogoye, Emmanuel

  Emmanuel Mbonibogoye

  Emmanuel explains in his testimony how the violence was largely targeted at the Hutu population in 1972, and he also describes the systematic arrests, torture, and executions. When Emmanuel's mother returned from Kayanza after witnessing the brutal treatment of local people, she warned the family, prompting fears for their safety. The interviewee’s father was arrested by local authorities, accused of harboring weapons and being involved in the violence. Despite being innocent, he was tortured and eventually executed, like many other Hutus fate during the genocide. His father was taken from his home, beaten, and accused of possessing a gun to kill Tutsis. The family witnessed the brutality of the arrests and executions, with many people being forcibly detained and taken to prisons where they were killed.

  Emmanuel describes the physical and emotional impact of witnessing his father’s death and the subsequent violence. This included health problems, such as heart issues, which started after these traumatic events. He describes how the family’s property was looted, and they were left in poverty. The family had to endure harsh conditions and work under forced labor for a year.

  Despite the tragedy, the interviewee reflects on how his family survived and continued to uphold the legacy of their father. He took on his father’s profession, which provided some stability. Emmanuel’s narrative highlights the long-term impact of the violence on his life and family, as well as the broader historical context of ethnic conflicts in Burundi.